Amusement apparatus



| HENDRICH 2.210.079

AMUSEMENT APPARATUS Aug. 6, 1940.

Filed March 7, 1940 INVENTOR.

BY aim ATTORNEY.

Patented Aug. 6, 1940 "UNITED STAT 2.210.079 .i v AMUSEMENT APPARA-TUS Louis Hendrick; Valparaiso; Ind.

Application March '7, 1940,. Serial No. 322,649

5 Claims.

My invention: relates. to .improvements amusement v1 apparatus,

: -nexed claims.

amusement devicethat comprises a standard of suitable "height through which a; motor driven shaft extends-throughout its .lengthand top of- 'thestandard radial arms of different iii lengths :arexattachedto. the shaft. Miniature airplanesare suspended-in a detachable and ata distancefrom" the standard. or tower, one or.

tachablermanner. below the ends of the arms.

more shooting stands may be placed. Each stand player to bring I rapidly rotated" shaft" at the lower end ofthe standard. The airplanes are divided into separate groups, one group revolving at a given diameten the next group at "a little larger diameter, andeach successive group =11 beingon a similar increased diameter of rotation.

5 With these and other ends in view Iillustrate 1' in the accompanying drawingsuch instances of adaptation as will disclose .and' it. more especiallyco'nsists of the featurespointedout in the anradial :arms B'are secured-to the-shaft S0538 to 15 has an aiming post andr-controls for spring:

pressed projectiles-which are released by the down the airplanes as they are. by the motor attachedto the ill; rotate awith the. arms 6.

": may zber provided for -.the cords .guides at a selected distance away,

' invention-without limiting myself to :thespecific details shown thereon and described herein.

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of an assembled-detimeztheplane moves downward. The extent. of. 2. -.the;drop. of :a. plane is limited by a. counterweight .:.IGQengagingtheguide-l5 which serves as astop "xi-Figs. 1,8 and 4) vice.

Fig. 2 is a plan View of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a'detached detail of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a view similar toFig Q3 showing positioned changes.

ing plate. Figl 6 is an elevation" partly in section of a r lg n 7 is a modificationof Fig. 6. J4O'YY-1Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic view of for one'ship.'

Fig. 9-' is aview similar 4 change of hook.

- Fig.'-10 is adiagra-mmatic' view of a self-catchattheupper endof the driving shaft 4 of such a diameter-as toinclude the-longest radial arms 45- mg arrangement.

' Fig. 11- is an enlarged detail of Fig. 10.

- Fig.5 is'a'detachedsemi-perspective of a guid- --.cash,nwho will -issue.;tickets including a certain .or. six. feetvhi h', more: or .less. At the.- upper end The purpose? of my invention is to provide an 5 of:the standard I where the shaft 4: projects rotate with ,it. ,.Asaexemp1ified; in the drawing;

.there are fourdifferentlengths of: arms 6.50 that utheouterends. ofeachof the arms .will1move in at the itsown selected zone. ...At theouter end of each arm a sheave, I is secured on .WhiChJt/he cord 8 rides. This supports the miniature airplanes; by. l meanstofxspecia'lly formed hooks 9 that project .above theqfuselages I0. There is also a sheave |i|.x oneach arm 6. near-the. standard.

pully. sheaves A Supporting .cord8. of any desired material,

is secureditdthe airplanes l3. It passes over the.

hand l'l anddropsdown alongside the "standard I on=-;depending. supports M which aresecured tdthe radial arms t; Thesesupports Suitable guides l5 8. Below the counterweights l6 :jarefastenedto the. cords. Below the counterweightsalli :any form of ring may be fastened to rserve as .arhandholdthrough which the cords are the broadidea of the s- I 2xprevent a;

r. :.-the; ground when it is dislodged from itsv support.

operated to raise shot-down airplanes and bring them. totheir;.raised position. The safety cords dislodged;airplane-from crashing to .Thezcounterweights move upward at the same number of shots; :;an: attendant to raise the .:dropped ;airplanes.to:their position on the'hooks "In marketing my amusement device I .may

v :;;..utilize xwhatevenequivalents or alternatives of -.a.' construction or adaptation that theexigencies' of f:;

varying :conditions may: demand without departing from the broad spirit: of .the invention.

Jrhewstandardor: tower .I .maypbe of any con- :;;;:struction.. It is. secured which a small motor 31.

to a suitable. base 2 upon s fastened. This motor 55 tdrives azshaftlzthatextends .upward through the -.hooks;9 attached to thetop of a fuselage-Hi onto :thesupporting-means at the outer ends of the x--.radial,arms 6. .The; attaching hooks 9 arespewhich depend beneath the outer ends of the radial a pair of g-unsu. .1.jectilesandsreturn them. to'Fig. 8 showing a :ceiling-: should the device be. operated in an en- .closeclspace, a conical canopy I! may be secured 6*(Figr1). I

in Any of .ana-automatic restoring. means 42 may.be.;provided:to -guide the specially formed aoially shaped so that if acoordinate wing-l9 of an.,,air.plane is hit by a bullet-20 the airplane will she dislodgedsand free todrop- (Figs. 10 andil). 5

The shooting stands 2| may be connected by wires 3| or otherwise to a group of projectile holders 22 corresponding in number to the different radii of the moving airplanes. At each shooting stand there is a sighting pole 23 with a movable arm 24 that the player can direct to any one of the different zones. After having selected the desired zone, he releases a charged bullet 20 which is located directly beneath the zone in which he is operating. The skill of the player is manifested in his ability to time the release of the projectile in relation to the rapidly moving airplane in the fighting zone which he has selected (Figs. 1 and 2).

The projectiles or bullets 20 are of any desired material, rubber or otherwise, and they may be provided with a lengthwise hole 25. This hole permits assembling the bullets on a vertical rod 26 which is aligned directly beneath the airplane wing so as to lead the bullet against it and dislodge the airplane. The bullets may be inside of a tube 21 and the force for expelling them resides in a coil spring 28, in tube 21, below the bullet. Any desired means such asalong tube 29 to prevent stopping may be used-for pressing the bullets against the spring so as to push it past a catch 30 that may be released through a cord or wire 3| by hand fromthe shooting stand or by means of an adapted foot treadle, I8 (Figs.

6 and 7).

In its simplest form there will'be. one bulletrod 26 for each zone of airplane movement. If more variety is desired two such rods-may be provided for each zone. In this event the hooks of the airplane will be reversed so that a plane suspended below one end of a radial arm will become dislodged when. a left wing ishit by a bullet but the duplicate plane at the other end of the arm will be dislodged by the bullet coming from the second rod 26 hitting the right wing. This brings in an element of uncertainty so that the player Will not know which wing he is going to hit. In

other words duplicating the projectile rods in each zone produces an uncertainty which adds to the sport (Figs. 8 and 9).

If instead of using an automatic arrangement for attaching an airplane to the endof a-radial arm 8, I may make the cord 8 with the counterweight it to itself terminate beyond the sheave 1 in a guiding plate 32 having an opening N therethrough into which the hook-9 of the airplane will be inserted by an attendant as the cord is pulled down by hand. In this event the safety 'cord I2 would reach from the attaching end of the cord 8 to the airplane with sufiicient slack to prevent the airplane crashing to the ground after being released (Figs. 3 and 4) The standard I through which the driving shaft passes may simply be a tube of sufiicient strength to sustain the weight of the radial arms and airplanes without being swayed-out of its vertical position. I

As an alternative the bullets 33 may be solid and instead of the guiding rod 26' referred to they may be inside of a tube 21. At any event, the spring 28 which furnishes the ejecting force must be compressed to the desired amount. When this point is reached a catch 30 comes into play to hold the spring in its compressed position until the player releases it. There are as many releasing means at the shooting stand as there are bullet holders associated with it. In the simplest case, one for each zone through which the airplanes fly and when greater variety is desired there may be two projectile holders 26 for each zone, which, should there be eight radial arms, each one with two variable plane hooks there would be a total of sixteen releases (Fig. 7).

Only one shooting station is shown on the drawing but this is illustrative and it is obvious that more than one station may be used so that several players may enjoy the game at the same time (Fig. 2).

The speed of revolution of the suspended airplanesmay be varied by any conventional means associated with the driving motor. It is probable that under certain formal regulations for tournaments, etc., that the speed of rotation will be definitely indicated on the entrance cards. Several teams may contest at a certain speed of rotation and the same teams or others may engage in a separate contest at another agreedupon rotative speed.

Above the spring 28 a washer 34 is placed. This may be larger in diameter than the spring so as to project outside. of it. It passes below the catch 36 Whenthe bullet is pressed against the spring. The catch 30 is part of a pivoted arm 35. It has a spring 36 adapted toihold the catch 30 in place. The position of the catch 30 in re: lation to its movement toward the washer 34 can be adjusted as needed by a limit screw 31. Whenever a guide tube 21 isusedinstead of a guide rod 26 a washer 38 is placed above the spring inside of the tube. A pin 39 projects from the.- washer. It moves in a long slot 40 and it projects out of the slot so as to be engaged by the ,catch 36 to hold the spring in its compressed position (Fig. 7).

What I claim is: :1.

1. In an amusement apparatus, a supporting standard, a base therefor, a rotatable shaft extending throughout the length, of the standard and projecting thereabove, a motor at the bottom end of the shaft to drive it, a plurality of radial; arms of different lengths supported at the upper end of the shaft, a plurality of detachable and attachable miniature airplanes supported beneath the outer ends of the arms; a plurality of projectile holders spaced apart at distances con-, responding to, the difference in radial length of the arms, means for forcibly ejecting theprojectiles from the holders as and when desired, a shooting station, a sighting post associated with the station and separate releasing means at the station for the several projectile holders.

2. In an amusement apparatus, a suitable standard,means for rotatably supporting the plurality of radial arms at the upper end of the standard, means for attachab ly and detachablysecuring miniature airplanes beneath the outer ends of the arms, means for counterweighting the airplanes independently of each other such means comprisinga suitable cordor flexible cable, means for selectivelydislodging airplanes fron l, their support, and means for supporting the air planes after dislodgement to prevent their becoming damaged through crashing on, the ground;

3. An amusement device which comprises a raised standard, a plurality of diiferent. length; radial arms pivoted above the standard for horizontal rotation, means associated with the standard for imparting motion. to the arms, means for detachably and attachably positioning a miniature airplane beneath the outer end. of each:- arm, a plurality of projectile holders positioned in spaced apart: relation beneath the suspended planes and in approximate alignment .with the ends of the radial arms.

4. An ai'rplaneamusement device. comprising a suitable elevated standard, a shaft within the standard, means for rotating the shaft selective- 1y, a plurality of different length radial arms attached to the upper end of the shaft, a pair of spaced apart sheaves on each arm, a cord traversable on the sheaves, a detachable and attachable airplane at the outer end of the cord, and a counterweight at the inner end of the cord.

5. A model airplane comprising an open sided hook secured to the top surface of an airplane fuselage, means for supporting the plane on said hook in a detachable and attachable manner, a. plurality of radial arms each arm having an airplane. beneath its outer end, and means for rotating the arms and attached airplanes on a horizontal plane whereby each moving plane becomes a target for the impact of a bullett aimed to hit the wing on the open side of the hook to dislodge the plane and then score a point for each plane dislodged.

- LOUIS I-IENDRICH. 

